Refrigerator



1942- G. G. SMITH ,300,529

REFRIGERATOR Filed March 13, 1941 Sheets-Sheet 1 NOW 1942- G. ca. SMITH2,300,529v

REFRIGERATOR Fil ed March 13, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 LF 1 I Patented Nov.3, 1942 UNITED STATES NT: OFFICE REFRIGERATOR Gustav G. Smith, Portland,:Oreg; Application March 13, 1941, Serial No. 383,239"

4 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerators and more particularly to arefrigerator embodyingthe use of carbondioxide or 602.

An object of this invention is to provide a refrigerator in which thecold emanating from a cake-of CO2 is conducted by means of heatconducting metal to' the food compartment.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a refrigerator of thiskind, an improved means whereby the conduction of cold from the cake ofCO2 maybe finely regulated or controlled so as to provide for thedesired temperature in the food compartment.

A further object of this invention is to provide a refrigeratorincluding the combination'of a cold compartment for receiving a cake ofCO2, a food compartment s'pa'ced from 'and non -communicable withrespect to the cold compartment, and heat conducting means connectingthe two compartments together.

A further object of this invention is to provide a refrigerator of thistype wherein the two compartments are connected together by heattransferring or conducting means and-the amount of heat transfer isregulated by a heat conducting liquid having a low freezing point, suchas alcohol or the like.

A further object of this invention is to provide a refrigerator of thiskind wherein the heat transfer controlling fiuid may be either manuallyor thermostatically regulated to provide for the 'de-- sired amount ofheat transfer.

Heretofore refrigerators of this type have been provided in which asolid body or cake of carbon dioxide (CO2) has been used as the coolingmedium and the cold emanating from the body, which is "commonly termeddry ice, is conducted or transferred to a food compartment in such amanner that the gas sublimating from the body will not contaminate thefood. However, in such prior devices no provision was made'whereby thedegree of transfer may be regulated or controlled, so that when the bodyof carbon dioxide was initially placed in the cold chamber the amount ofheat transferred was greater than the amount desired, resulting in anundesired low temperature in the food comlpartment. It is, therefore, anobject of this invention to provide a device which will overcome theobjectionablefeatures of these prior devices and provide an eventemperature in the food compartment irrespective-of the size of the bodyof the carbon dioxide.

A still further object of this invention'is toprovide a device of thistype which will permit of the variation, eithermanually orautomatically, in 55 the heat transfer between the "cold compartment andthe food compartment, so that an even temperature may be maintained inthe foodcompartment irrespective of the size of the body of carbondioxide.

With these and other objects inview, the invention consists in certainnovel-features of constru'ction as hereinafter shown and described andthen specifically: pointed out in the claims, and in thedrawingsil'lustrative of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure l is a'dia-grammatic view, partly in section, of a refrigeratingunit constructed according-to an embodiment of this invention."

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectiontaken on the line .2-ofFigure'l;

Figure 3 is a transverse-sectional view, taken on the line 33of-FigureZ'.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view of an :improved modifiedformof refrigerating unit.

Figure 5 is "a vertical section, taken through the regulating means forthe heat conducting'members.

Figure'fi is a-fragmen-tary side elevatiompartly in section, through theadjustingmeans for the regulating unit; and

'Figure '7 is sectional-view taken on the line 11 of Figure 6. i

Referring to the drawings, and-first to Figures 1 .to-3inclusivethe-numeral l0 designatesgenerally a cold chamber and thenumeral H desig-' nates generally a food chamber which, in the present-instance,-is spaced apart and non-communicating with respect to thecold-chamber-Ill. The food chamber H, as shown in Figure 1, is at oneside of the cold chamber l0, but-it will-be understood that, if desired,the food chamber H may .be disposed-in-any other-suitable position withrespect to the cold chamber Ill.

The cold chamber l0 comprises a housingineluding a bottom-wall 42, sidewalls I3 and I 4 and end :wallsl5.- Theclosureortopwall I6ishingedlysecured, as at IT; to the side wallldand is adapted to closethe upper end-of the chamber In. It will, of course be understood that,if desired, theclosure lfi'maybe disposed in' one of the side orendwalls; An inner bottomwall 18 is disposedinupwardly spaced relationto the bottom wall-l2 being secured inupwardly spaced I relation. bymeans of supporting members l9. One edge of thebottom wall-l8 isdisposedin spaced relation-to the side wall l4 and an inner sidewall 20extendsupwardlyfrom the adjacent edgeof the inner bottom. 18 and isdisposed in spaced relation with respect to the side wall |4. Ifdesired, the inner bottom l8 may be formed integral with the inner sidewall and these walls are preferably constructed of metal having arelatively high coefiicient of heat transfer or heat conductivity. Asolid body or cake 2|, which is formed of solidified carbon dioxide(CO2) is adapted to rest on the inner bottom l8 and constitutes the coldgenerating means which is positioned in direct contact with the innerbottom IS. The body 2| may, if desired, be also positioned in directcontact at its inner portion with the vertical inner side wall 28 sothat the cold emanating from the body 2| will be transferred directly tothe inner side wall 20. The closure |B may be provided with outwardlyopening gas escape valve structure 22 of conventional construction sothat the gas sublimated from the body 2| will be permitted to escape andthus prevent the formation of undue pressure within the cold chamber ID.V v

The food chamber II is herein shown as a closed housing, but it will beunderstood that a suitable closure which may be hinged, or the like, isassociated with the food chamber I I so that free access may be had tothe interior of the chamber The chamber comprises a bottom wall 23, sidewalls 24 and 25, top wall 25 and end walls '21. As shown in Figure 1,the side wall 25 may be provided with a suitable closure 28, the closure28 being shown diagrammatically so that ready access may be had to theinterior of the chamber A heat exchanging element, generally designatedat 29, is disposed within the food chamber andin the present instance itcomprises a substantially L-shaped plate having a vertical leg 38 and ahorizontal leg 3 I. The plate or ele- I ment 29 is adapted to besupported in spaced relation to an end wall 21 and in spaced relation tothe inner side wall 24 by supporting members 32 or the like. Thesupporting members 32 may be similar to the supporting members I9, shownin Figure 1. A heat conducting rod or member 33 is secured at one end tothe heat exchanging plate'20 and the rod 33 extends through an opening34 formed inthe inner side wall I 4. A second heat conducting rod ormember 35 is secured as by welding 35 or other suitable fastening means,to the plate 29 at theupper portion of the vertical leg thereof. The rodor heat conducting member extends through an'opening 31 provided in theinner side wall 24 and, in the present instances,- is disposed in axialalinement with the heat conducting member 33. The adjacent orconfronting ends of the heat conducting mem-- bers 33 and 35 are spacedapart as shown in Figure 2, so as to form a chamber 38.

A substantially cylindrical connector 39 is threaded onto the adjacentends of the heat conducting members 33 and 35 and preferably theconnector 39 is formed of material having a substantially lowcoefficient of heat conductivity.

A liquid reservoir or housing, generally designated as 48, is disposedbelow the connector 39 and comprises an upper housing member 4| providedwith a flange 42' and also includes a lower housing member 43 which iscomplementary to the upper housing member 4| and which is provided witha marginal flange 44. The flanges 42 and 44'aresecured together byfastening devices 45. The upper housing member 4| is separated on theinterior thereoffrom the interior of the lower housing member 43 bymeans of a flexible diaphragm 48. The marginal edge portions of thediaphragm 46 are interposed between the two flanges 42 and 43. The space41 above the diaphragm 46 constitutes the liquid chamber in which anon-frigid liquid is adapted to be positioned. This non-frigid liquid ispreferably a liquid having a substantially high co-efiicient of heatconductivity but which has a very low freezing point so that the liquidwill not freeze or coagulate under any temperature which may betransferred from the heat conducting member 33 to the heat conductingmember 35. The upper housing member 4| is provided with a nipple ortubular extension 48 which is adapted to be threaded onto a nipple 49which is carried by or formed integral with the connecting member 39.The nipple 49 communicates with the liquid chamber or space 38.

In order to provide a means whereby the amount of liquid which ispositioned in the regulating chamber 38 may be manually controlled Ihave provided a threaded shaft or bar 50 which is threaded through abushing 5| carried by the lower housing member 43. The inner or upperend of the shaft 58 is swivelly mounted in a bushing 52 which is fixedto substantially the center of the diaphragm 45. The combined operatorand indicating member 53 is fixed to the outer or lower end of the shaft58 and provides a means whereby the shaft 50 may be manually rotated soas to fiex the diaphragm 45 to the desired degree and thereby regulatethe amount of liquid which is to be disposed in the transfer chamber 38.

A diametrically and upwardly extending nipple 54 is carried by theconnector 39 and communicates at its loWer end with the transfer chamber38. An expansion housing 55 which is provided with a threaded nipple 55,is threaded onto the nipple 54 and provides a means whereby any airabove the liquid in the transfer chamber 38 may readily expand. Theexpansion chamber 55 is also provided at its upper end with a nipple 51diametrically opposite to the nipple 56 and a combined cap and safetyvalve 58 is threaded onto the upper nipple 51. The safety valve 58includes a spring pressed valve member 59 and an exhaust opening 60 sothat when undue pressure is present in the expansion chamber 55 thispressure may be released by unseating of the upwardly opening valvemember 58 and discharge or exhaust of the air through the vent oropening 50.

Referring now to Figures 4 to 7 inclusive there is here disclosed arefrigerator unit similar to the unit shown in Figure l with theexception that the regulating means for regulating the transfer of heatfrom the cold chamber to the food chamber is thermostaticallycontrolled. The cold chamber |0a is similar in every detail to the coldchamber HI and there is positioned in the chamber ID a heat conductingmember embodying a horizontally disposed inner bottom plate similar toplate l8 and a vertically disposed inner side wall 28a. The solid bodyof carbon dioxide is adapted to be disposed on the inner bottom similarto l8 and the cold from the solid cake of carbon dioxide is adapted tobe absorbed by and conducted by the plate 28a and the bottom supportingthe solid cake of carbon dioxide. A food compartment Ia, similar to thecompartment is disposed in spaced relation to and in noncommunicatingrelation with respect to the cold chamber |8a and food chamber ||a haspositioned therein a substantially L-shaped heat exchanging element'29a.The element 29a is proleg 31a.

the present instance,.isin axial alinement with the heat conducting rod3311.. .A substantially cylindrical connector 39aconnectsthe confrontasecondiheat conducting rod 'or member 3511 is fixed to the'heatexchanging plate 290 and, in

ing ends of the head conducting members 33a and 35a together and theconfronting ends-of the .heat conductingmembers 33a, and 35a are spacedapart to provide a heat transfer chamber similar to the transfer chamber38, shown in Figures 2 and 3. A fluid reservoir 40a, is connected bymeans of a nipple-48a to the connecting member 39a and an expansionmember 550, extends upwardly from the connector 39a and communicatestherewith in a manner similar to the structure shown in Figures 2 and-3.A safety valve structure 58a which also constitutes a cap, is mounted onthe expansion member 55a. The combined cap and safety valve member 58aprovides a means not only for the release of air pressure in theexpansion member 55a but also provides'a means .whereby'the desiredamount of heat transferring liquid may be placed in the reservoir 40a. v

The reservoir 40a includes an upper housing member Ala having a marginalflange Ma, and also includes a lower housing member 43a having amarginal flange 44a. A flexible diaphragm 46a divides the liquid chamber4101. from the lower housing member 43a andthe diaphragm 46a isinterposed between the flanges 42a and 44a and secured there-between byfastening devices 45a. A rod or shaft Si is disposed within the lowerhousing member-63a and is secured by means of washers 62 and '63 to theaxial center of the diaphragm 45a. A second rod or shaft 64 is slidablethrough a bushing 65 carried by a lower housing Ma. The inner shaftorrod-6| is provided with a cutout 66 in one side thereof and the upperend of the rod or shaft 64 isformed with .a transverse opening orcamtrack 6! which communicates with a cutout vI58 alsoformed in theupper vportion of the shaft .or rod 64. A circular cam member 69 isrotatably'engageable within the track 5'! and a cam operating shaft 1!]is secured at one end by means of a pin H to the cam 69 and extendshorizontally and outwardly through an elongated slot and opening 12formed in the lower housing member 43a. A handle or indicator 73 isfixed to the outer or extended end of the shaft 72. Rotation of the cammember 69 will move the overlapping ends of the two shaft members BI and64 relative to each other so as to increase or decrease the combinedlength of these two shafts and thereby flex the diaphragm 46a to thedesired degree.

The lower shaft 64 is connected at its lower end to an upper plate Mwhich closes the upper end portion of a flexible bellows 15. The lowerplate i6 is secured to the lower portion of the bellows 15 and the lowerplate 16 is preferably supported from the cold chamber Illa by means ofan L-shaped bracket 11. A pipe 18 is connected at one end to the lowerplate 16 and communicates with the interior of the bellows 15. The upperend of the bellows 15 is closed by the plate 14. The pipe 18 extendsfrom the bellows 15 into the food chamber 100.. A gas receptacle 19,which is provided with a plug or closure 80 at its upper end, isdisposed within the food chamber I la and the plug 80 is threaded orotherwise secured onto theropposite end of the pipe. [8. The .ga'spositioned in the gas receptacle "IQ-is preferably of a character whichis adapted to expand or contract under the varying temperatures in thefood chamber Ila. andupon expansion of the gas in .the gas receptacle 19this expanded gas will also expand within the bellows "l5 and therebypush upwardly and vertically the two-connected shafts GI and 64 so as toraise or flex the diaphragm 46a upwardly. The upward flexing of thediaphragm 45a will cause the fluid chamber 41a to be reduced in area andthe fluid in the chamber 41a will be forced into the heat transferchamber between the confronting ends of theheat conducting members 33aand 350..

In the-use and operation of this'refrigera'tion' unit a solid cake ofcarbon dioxide is adapted'to be positioned in the cold chamber l0resting onthe inner bottom member l8. The cold emanating :from the bodyV2! is communicated, by contact with the bottom member I8 and the coldof the inner bottom I B is communicated to the inner side wall 26. Thecold or heat of the innerv side wall 20 is conducted, by means oftheheat conducting member 33, to the heat conducting member 35 which isfixed to the heat exchanging member 29 in the food compartment l I. Theamount of heat transferred from the heat conducting member 33 to theheat conducting member 35 is manually controlled or regulated in Figures1 to'3 inclusive by adjustment of the diaphragm 46. As an example, if itis desired to reduce the amount of heat conducted from the conductingmember 33 to the conducting member 35 the diaphragm 46 isflexeddownwardly thereby enlarging thevliquid chamber 41. If it is desired toincrease the amount of heat transferred between the conducting members33 and 35 the diaphragm 4.6 is flexed upwardly thereby reducing theliquid chamber t! and, forcing theliquid into the heattacle"!!! whichwill cause the expansion or contraction of thebellows l5. Expansion orcontraction of the bellows 15 will raise or lower the diaphragm 46a. Theamount or degree of flexing of thediaphragm 46a may be adjustedbyiradjustment of the cam 69 which will lengthen 5 or shorten thecombined length of the two shafts 6! and 64.

What I claim is:

1. A refrigerator comprising a cold chamber adapted to receive a solidbody of carbon dioxide, a food chamber spaced from and non-communicatingwith said cold chambena heat exchang-' ing member in said cold chamberin spaced relation to the walls of said cold chamber and supporting saidbody in said cold chamber, a second heat exchanging member in said foodchamber and spaced from the walls thereof, a heat conducting memberfixed at one end to said first heat exchanging member and extendingtherefrom through a wall of said cold chamber, a second heat conductingmember fixed at one end to said second heat exchanging member andextending therefrom through a wall of said food chamber, a couplingmember having a substantially low coefficient of heat conductivityconnecting the extended "ends of said conducting members together andforming a heat transfer chamber between said extended ends, a heatconducting liquid engageable in said transfer chamber, a liquidreservoir communicating with said transfer chamber, a flexible wall insaid reservoir, means for flexing said flexible wall to thereby increaseor decrease the area of said reservoir, variation in the area of saidreservoir affecting the quantity of liquid in said transfer chamber, anexpansion chamber communicating with said transfer chamber, and acombined safety valve and filling cap carried by said expansion chamber.

2. A refrigerator comprising a cold chamber adapted to receive a solidbody of carbon dioxide, a food chamber spaced from and non-communicatingwith said cold chamber, a heat exchanging member in said cold chamber inspaced relation to the walls of said cold chamber and supporting saidbody in said cold chamber, a second heat exchanging member in said foodchamber and spaced from the walls thereof, a heat conducting memberfixed at one end to said first heat exchanging member and extendingtherefrom through a wall of said cold chamber, a second heat conductingmember fixed at one end to said second heat exchanging member andextending therefrom through a wall of said food chamber, a couplingmember having a substantially low coeflicient of heat conductivityconnecting the extended ends of said conducting members together andforming a heat transfer chamber between said extended ends, a heatconducting liquid engageable in said transfer chamber, a liquidreservoir communicating with said transfer chamber, a flexible wall insaid reservoir, a threaded shaft carried by said reser voir and swivellyconnected with said flexible wall, and an operator carried by saidshaft, flexing-of said flexible wall varying the capacity of saidreservoir and simultaneously varying the quantity of fluid in saidtransfer chamber.

3. A refrigerator comprising a cold chamber adapted to receive a solidbody of carbon dioxide, a food chamber spaced from and non-communieatingwith said cold chamber, a heat exchanging member in said cold chamber inspaced relation to the walls of said cold chamber and supporting saidbody in said cold chamber, a second heat exchanging member in said foodchamber and spaced from the walls thereof, a heat conducting memberfixed at one end to said first heat exchanging member and extendingtherefrom through a wall of said cold chamber, a

second heat conducting member fixed at one end to said second heatexchanging member and extending therefrom through a wall of said foodchamber, a coupling member having a substantially low coefficient ofheat conductivity connecting the extended ends of said conductingmembers together and forming a heat transfer chamber between saidextended ends, a heat conducting liquid engageable in said transferchamber, a liquid reservoir communicating with said transfer chamber, aflexible wall in said reservoir, a bellows, means connecting saidbellows with said flexible wall to thereby vary the capacity of saidreservoir upon expansion or contraction of said bellows, a gasreceptacle in said food chamber, and a pipe connecting said receptaclewith said bellows whereby variation in the temperature of said foodchamber will expand or contract said bellows and thereby vary thequantity of liquid in said transfer chamber in accordance with thetemperature in said food chamber.

4. A refrigerator comprising a cold chamber adapted to receive a solidbody of carbon dioxide, a food chamber spaced from and non-communicatingwith said cold chamber, a heat exchanging member in said cold chamber inspaced relation to the walls of said cold chamber and supporting saidbody in said cold chamber, a second heat exchanging member in said foodchamber and spaced from the walls thereof, a heat conducting memberfixed at one end to said first heat exchanging member and extendingtherefrom through a wall of said cold chamber, a second heat conductingmember fixed at one end to said second heat exchanging member andextending therefrom through a wall of said food chamber, a couplingmember having a substantially low coefficient of heat conductivityconnecting the extended ends of said conducting members together andforming a heat transfer chamber between said extended ends, a heatconducting liquid engageable in said transfer chamber, a liquidreservoir communicating with said transfer chamber, a flexible wall insaid reservoir, a bellows, an extendible connecting means connectingsaid bellows with said flexible wall, means for extending or contractingsaid connecting means, and thermostatic means connected with saidbellows for expanding or contracting said bellows in accordance with thetemperature in said food chamber.

GUSTAV G. SMITH.

